ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — With a final budget vote less than 24 hours away, St. Joseph County leaders are facing a potential 11th hour change. Last week, they mandated nearly $1 million in cuts to dozens of county departments. Now, one department head says he may issue his own mandate if his funding isn't fully restored.

Probate Court Judge Peter Nemeth also oversees St. Joseph County's Juvenile Justice Center, or JJC. Under the original budget proposed by county leaders, he says his two departments stood to see about $1.4 million in cuts, including the jobs of about 20 total employees.

But, during a series of budget workshops last week county leaders agreed to "restore" most of that funding, including at least 9 of those positions in areas directly related to inmate care like psychiatry. But, they still planned to cut out most of the JJC's building maintenance department.

Nemeth--who acknowledged that most of his spending allotment was "restored"--says his budget is still being "unfairly targeted."

"The cuts currently in place that are being recommended total around $450,000, which is one-half of the total amount that's being cut. I don't believe it's equitable if we're bearing half the total cost of the cuts. Our budgets have already been cut 20% in the last two years. This just adds to that, and unfortunately, our business is not declining," Nemeth said.

But, county leaders on the other side of the table say the remainder of the cuts proposed will mostly move money around, not personnel, in order to make up a $2.1 million deficit in the 2010 budget.

Of the JJC's 8 positions in building maintenance, only 3 would be cut out completely. Those that remain would simply be paid for out of the St. Joseph County Maintenance Department's budget.

County Board of Commissioners Vice President Dave Thomas (D)--an accountant by trade who drew up the details of this year's budget--says that's what the fund is there for.

"County maintenance staff are overseen by the County Maintenance Department. And, for some reason the Juvenile Justice Center has been an anomaly with their own maintenance department," Thomas said.

"To the best of my knowledge, everybody else operates under the county maintenance program. So, the cuts proposed aren't true cuts if they're being replaced in another budget," he continued.

Thomas, County Councilman Mike Kruk (D) and County Auditor Peter Mullen (D) met behind closed doors with Nemeth Monday afternoon in an 11th hour effort to try and reach a compromise solution.

Thomas says he pointed to other examples during the meeting to show that county maintenance is being standardized across other departments. The St. Joseph County Jail, for example, has nearly 700 inmates at any given time--14 times the JJC's current inmate population of 63.

"The county jail has 3 maintenance workers, and they're paid through the county maintenance department," Thomas said. "Why should the JJC be an anomaly?"

Nemeth says there's a simple answer.

"I think there's quite a difference between the two facilities. The jail is simply a jail. You don't have the kind of traffic turnover on a daily basis that we have, because we're also a courthouse," Nemeth said.

Nemeth pointed out that the Probate Court/JJC building also houses offices for the County Prosecutor, Public Defender, CASA and has a juvenile detention center that runs 24 hours a day.

"It's unprecedented to have a building of this nature and not have anybody on site who can maintain and take care of the building. I don't think I'm being selfish when I've gone along with 20% budget cuts in the last two years. I've tried to be cooperative in that sense, and 20 percent cut from one's budget is pretty drastic," Nemeth said.

It's one reason why the Judge says he likely won't sit by and watch any more get slashed from his bottom line.

Under Indiana law, judges can "mandate" the amount of money they need to "operate their courts efficiently." Nemeth did exactly that 9 months ago, serving notice to the County Council that he intended to use $79,000 in probation user fees to fund salary increases for 8 of his top tier employees.

The County Council had previously rejected nearly all pay raises to departments across the board, except for those mandated by state statute.

The matter was heard by a special judge in Probate Court earlier this month, and Nemeth said Monday he expects a ruling by mid-November.

When asked if he would consider a judicial mandate over the building maintenance workers as well, Nemeth didn't hesitate.

"I would have no choice but to do that," he told WSBT. "It's going to be impossible for me to operate the facility without being able to maintain it."

Still, Nemeth said he is open to finding common ground.

"That would save everyone a lot of trouble, a lot of work, and of course, a lot of taxpayer money [in court costs]," he said.

Thomas, for his part, says threats of mandated funding won't deter him from his elected duty.

"It won't stop me from doing what's right. And, I hope it doesn't stop others from doing what's right," he said.

The question now: will it even come to that?

There was only thing both sides of the table seemed to fully agree on.

"It looks like time will tell," Nemeth said.

Thomas says it is possible that the County Council will amend the budget before Tuesday night's planned vote, in an effort to find a "compromise" that would avoid the mandate order. But, time is ticking to find "middle ground."

County leaders identified $940,000 in proposed cuts during last week's budget workshops, but still need to fill $1.2 million to have a balanced budget. Thomas says it's likely the bulk of that funding will come from County Economic Development Income Tax (CEDIT) funding or Rainy Day Funds.

The budget has to be signed off on by both the Council and Commissioners by November 1st.